STABILITY TESTING OF

PHYTOPHARMACEUTICALS
By
Poorna Basuri.P
M.Pharm-Ist year
INTRODUCTION
Phytopharmaceuticals or Herbal drugs referred as plants
materials or herbalism, involves the use of whole plants or
parts of plants, to treat injuries or illnesses. Herbal drugs are
the use of therapeutic herbs to prevent and treat diseases and
ailments or to support health and healing.
These are drugs or preparations made from a plant or plants
and used for any of such purposes. Herbal drugs are the
oldest form of health care known to mankind. There are many
herbal products offered that assert to treat the symptoms of a
broad range of problems, from depression to cold and flu.
 World Health Organization has set precise guidelines for the
evaluation of the safety, efficacy, and quality of herbal
medicines.
WHO estimates that 80% of the world populations currently
use herbal drugs for major healthcare. Exceptionally, in some
countries herbal drugs may also enclose by tradition, natural
organic or inorganic active constituents which are not of
plant source.
The herbal drug is a chief constituent in traditional medicine
and a common constituent in ayurvedic, homoeopathic,
naturopathic and other medicine systems.
 Nowadays, due to side effects of allopathic drugs, herbal drugs are
prefered.
Herbal products have reached extensive adequacy as beneficial
agents like antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antifertility, antiageing,
antiarthritic, sedative, antidepressant, antianxiety, antispasmodic,
analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-HIV, vasodilatory, hepatoprotective,
treatment of cirrhosis, asthma, acne, impotence, menopause,
migraine, gall stones, chronic fatigue, Alzheimer's disease, and
memory enhancing activities.
These drugs have survived real world testing and thousands of years
of human testing. Some drugs have been discontinued due to their
toxicity, while others have been modified or combined with additional
herbs to counterbalance side effects.
ADVANTAGES OF HERBAL DRUGS

Low/Minimum cost
Potency and efficiency
Enhanced tolerance
More protection
Fewer side-effects
Complete accessibility
Recyclable
DISADVANTAGES OF HERBAL DRUGS

Not able to cure rapid sickness and accidents

Risk with self-dosing
Complexity in standardizations
STANDARDIZATION OF HERBAL DRUGS
Standardized herbal products of consistent quality and containing
well-defined constituents are required for reliable clinical trials and to
provide consistent beneficial therapeutic effects.
Pharmacological properties of an herbal formulation depend on
phytochemical constituents present therein.
Development of authentic analytical methods which can reliably
profile the phytochemical composition, including quantitative
analyses of marker/bioactive compounds and other major
constituents, is a major challenge to scientists.
Without consistent quality of a phytochemical mixture, a consistent
pharmacological effect is not expected.
 Standardization is the first step for the establishment of a
consistent biological activity, a consistent chemical profile, or
simply a quality assurance program for production and
manufacturing. Therefore, the EU has defined three categories of
herbal products:
# Those containing constituents (single compounds or
families of compounds) with known and experienced therapeutic
activity that are deemed solely responsible for clinical efficacy.
# Those containing chemically defined constituents
possessing relevant pharmacological properties which are likely to
contribute to the clinical efficacy.
# Those in which no constituents have been identified as
being responsible for the therapeutic activity.
 Standardization means adjusting the herbal drug preparation to a
defined content of a constituent or group of substances with known
therapeutic activity.
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) makes the distinction
between constituents with a known therapeutic activity which can be
used to standardize a biological effect and marker compounds which
allow standardization on a set amount of the chosen compound.
The EMEA defines marker compounds as chemically defined
constituents of a herbal drug which are of interest for control
purposes.
Examples of markers are the valerenic acids in Valeriana officinalis L.,
ginkgolides and flavonoids in Ginkgo biloba L. and hypericin and
hyperforin in Hypericum perfoliatum., independent of whether they
have any therapeutic activity or not.
STABILITY TESTING OF HERBAL PRODUCTS

Stability testing is necessary to ensure the product is of acceptable

quality throughout its entire storage period.
An important part of quality control of herbal products is the
evaluation of the chemical stability of a finished product during the
storage period.
Stability testing of herbal products is a challenging task because the
entire herb or herbal product is regarded as the active substance,
regardless of whether constituents with defined therapeutic activity
are known.
 The objective of a stability testing is to provide evidence on how
the quality of the herbal products varies with stability.
Stability testing examines the quality and potency of drug at
suitable time intervals under the influence of environmental
factors such as temperature, light, oxygen, moisture, other
ingredient or excipient in the dosage form, particle size of drug,
microbial contamination, trace metal contamination, leaching
from the container.
Products are normally required to have shelf lifes that are
measured in years. Accelerated stability studies are designed to
increase the rate of chemical degradation or physical change of a
drug substance, therefore, tests must also be conducted under
conditions, which accelerate any changes occurring at ambient
temperature and humidity.
 With the help of modern analytical techniques like HPLC,
HPTLC and by employing proper guidelines it is possible to
establish sound stability data for herbal products and predict
their shelf life which will help in global acceptability of herbal
products.
REGULATORY STATUS
Phytotherapeutic agents are standardized herbal preparations consisting
of complex mixtures of one or more plants which contain as active
ingredients plant parts or plant material in the crude or processed state.
Insufficient data exist for most plants to guarantee their quality, efficacy,
and safety.
The idea that herbal drugs are safe and free from side effects is false.
Plants contain hundreds of constituents and some of them are very
toxic, such as the most cytotoxic anti-cancer plant-derived drugs,
digitalis and the pyrrolizidine alkaloids, etc.
However, the adverse effects of phytotherapeutic agents are less
frequent compared with synthetic drugs, but well-controlled clinical
trials have now confirmed that such effects really exist.
 Several regulatory models for herbal medicines are currently available
including prescription drugs, over-the-counter substances, traditional
medicines and dietary supplements.
Harmonization and improvement in the processes of regulation are
needed, and the general tendency is to perpetuate the German
Commission Experience, which combines scientific studies and traditional
knowledge (monographs).
Finally, the trend in the domestication, production, and biotechnological
studies and genetic improvement of medicinal plants, instead of the use of
plants harvested in the wild, will offer great advantages since it will be
possible to obtain uniform and high-quality raw materials which are
fundamental to the efficacy and safety of herbal drugs.
Recommended protocols for standardization of herbal drugs

In order to assure a consistent and acceptable quality herbal product,

care should be taken right from the identification and authentication
of herbal raw materials to the verification process of final product.
It is desirable to establish a document database containing
information on each approved medicinal herb or herbal medicine.
A central digital document database which is regularly updated and
which contains this information with linkages to references in other
databases like NAPRALERT should be established for easy access by all
beneficiaries, producers, and stakeholders.
The knowledge base for an herb or herbal medicine, promoted for wider use,
should be strengthened and expanded so that there is a sound scientific basis
for each use. This would require the presentation of data for each herb, used
in herbal medicine including:
plant identification, including cultivar with voucher specimen
plant, preferably voucher stored in a herbarium, for future reference
age of the herb (maturity/flowering plant, etc.)
location of cultivation, including altitude and longitude/latitude (GPS)
fertilizers/pesticides used, if any
time of harvest, including time after application of pesticides (if
applicable)
storage conditions of the plant, before sale
drying process
certificate, confirming the above
Apart from details on each herb, details regarding the manufacture of
the herbal medicine including the following data should be made
available:
protocol or pharmacopoeia or method used for producing the
medicine
plant or plants (for multi-plant herbal medicine) used
part of plant used in medicine
vehicle used for producing drug/medicine, e.g., alcohol or
water (with composition if a mixed solvent); type of preservative used,
if any, and amount Where plants are purchased, documents
maintained by the supplier regarding the herb should be made
available by the manufacturer.
 Prepare monographs for traditionally used herbal medicines in
a suitable format.
Legislate to ensure that manufacturers provide relevant data
on herbs and manufacturing processes.
Initiate programs to conserve biological resources.
Work toward amending TRIPS to include protection of IPR
contained in indigenous knowledge and to make the development of
herbal medicines attractive to pharmaceutical companies.
Legislate to establish standards in herbal medicine
manufacturing and ensure their implementation.
Patents involving biological resources should be granted only if
the source of material is specified and reference made to the material
transfer agreement.
As most herbal medicines are prepared from more than one plant material, it is
imperative that documentation should be made both on single medicinal plants and on
composite herbal preparations.
Single plants
plant identification: family, genus, species (including cultivar, if any) with
synonyms and older names where applicable; English (common) name(s); local name
herbarium voucher; specimen number and date with collectors name and
identity
age of the herb (maturity/ flowering plant, etc.)
location of cultivation/collection including altitude and longitude/latitude
(GPS)
fertilizers/pesticides used (if any)
time of harvest including time after application of pesticides (if applicable)
storage conditions of the plant before sale
drying process
certificate confirming the above
Composite herbal medicine
Apart from details on each herb as outlined for single plant, details
regarding the manufacture of the composite herbal medicine, including
the following data, should be made available:
protocol or pharmacopoeia or method used for producing the
medicine
plant or plants (for multi-plant herbal medicine) used
part of plant or plants used in the medicine
vehicle used for producing the drug/medicine, e.g., alcohol or
water (with composition if a mixed solvent); type of preservative used,
if any, and amount
excipients (if any) used, amount
 major constituents: carbohydrates, protein, fat, dietary fiber,
inorganic material, binder, total energy value per mass (kcal/g or kJ/g)
suggested dose, number of times to be used, how many days
to be used
probable side effects/precautions to be taken,
contraindications, restrictions for children, pregnancy, nursing mothers,
etc.
storage: at x C, room temperature, away from heat, sun, etc.
stability; shelf life; best before date
cautionary note, if any
Challenges in Stability testing of herbal medicinal product

Evaluating the stability of HMPs presents a number of challenges when

compared to chemically defined substances. In particular:
1. Active substances (herbal substances and/or herbal preparations) in
HMPs consist of complex mixtures of constituents and in most cases the
constituents responsible for the therapeutic effects are unknown.
2. The situation is further complicated when two or more herbal
substances and/or herbal preparations are combined in a HMP. In many
cases where combinations of herbal substances and/or herbal preparations
are present in HMPs, they have similar constituents and this gives rise to
even more analytical challenges.
3. In addition, many herbal substances/herbal preparations are known
to be unstable.
 Taking into account these special features of HMPs, adequate quality
concepts have been established.
As part of a total control strategy for herbal substances, herbal preparations
and HMPs, a set of test criteria including qualitative and quantitative
parameters has been recognized as quality indicating.
With regard to stability tests, chromatographic fingerprints as well as
appropriate methods of assay via marker substances represent the
fundamental part of this concept, laid down in shelf-life specifications. Not
withstanding the appropriateness of this approach, its realization is often
associated with analytical problems and high costs.
In summary, HMPs have a number of characteristics that clearly differentiate
them from chemically defined medicinal products and therefore specific
stability guidance needs to be established, which covers particular aspects
that existing specific herbal guidelines and general guidelines on stability do
not address.
Importance of Stability testing:

It evaluates the efficacy of a drug. Stability studies

are used to develop suitable packaging information for
quality, strength, purity & integrity of product during its
shelf life. It is used for determination of the shelf life.
THANK YOU